Soda

[talon]

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6380QC20100409

I have cut my consumption of soda down rather drastically. Back when I was a techie working tech support, I'd drink 3 or 4 sodas a shift and got to the point where all I was drinking were sodas. It was convenient, they came with tightly closing tops, and they didn't require any preparation or refrigeration.

When soda prices reached 79¢ for a 2 liter bottle, I reconsidered my consumption, and once it went over 99¢, I quit.

just like that.

Soda was nice, convenient, tasty, spill-proof, and suddenly far more expensive than I was willing to pay.

I can make my own sodas - tastier ones, actually - but I chose not to do so for mere convenience. Well, I can make a year's worth of sodas in a single weekend for mere pennies per bottle, so the inconvenience factor was actually pretty low and the price factor compelling. It's the storage factor that's at issue. A year's worth of soda takes up a lot of room and it has to be kept cool. In a southern house lacking air conditioning, this becomes a serious issue. No one wants exploding bottles of soda in their home.

I've long wanted a root cellar for storing garden produce and home canned goodies. Expanding it to include a beverage cellar isn't that much more expensive. So once I've finished rewiring the house, I think my next project will be building that root and beverage cellar.

I'm sorry for the beverage companies, of course, because if more people choose to stop drinking sodas or to make their own sodas, they'll be hard set to stay in business. But face it - sodas are a pure luxury beverage. Most tap waters are perfectly palatable and safe to drink, and when it's not, it's a simple matter to make it so. Water is the only essential beverage. Teas and coffee are inexpensive (compared to soda, anyway), and flavoring water is cheap enough. We aren't going to die of thirst if soda companies go out of business.

The employees will suffer until they can find new employment, and I feel for them.

All this nonsense about touting sodas and bottled beverages as healthy, nutritious, or functional is mere advertising hype. I bought my sodas based on price, taste, and convenience not health, nutrition, or function. I feel soda companies are becoming dishonest in marketing their wares and that - that makes it easier for me to stop drinking sodas.

I have a garden full of tea herbs, why would I need expensive sodas?